MINDFULNESS

I have felt disconnected from this space a bit lately, from online life in general really. Perhaps it's the pace of life the last few months or the thoughts I can't manage to catch. Quite possibly, it's the new puppy in our home, now competing…

I tend to be a planner, an achiever, a doer. In fact, I could write paragraphs on the benefit of goal-minded living, and the need for patience and steadfastness in parenting, business, or home projects. In each of these endeavors, my days…

“a series dedicated to nurturing and nourishing the self from the inside out”
I have always appreciated winter's wisdom, its encouragement to retreat and to listen. It merely requires a window or a walk outdoors to understand there is…

Each new year is a baptism of sorts, a release of one thing, a grasp for another. Whether one toasts champagne or simply turns the paper page on the calendar, we cross over, like mystics. Each of us. All of us. A new year.
I realize…

http://cloisteredaway.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/new_year_goals-1-2.jpg600900Bethanyhttps://www.cloisteredaway.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/CloisteredAway-logo.jpgBethany2017-01-02 10:39:312018-01-06 21:13:46Light the Path | Reflections to Welcome the New Year

There's something about baked foods straight from the oven that warms both the soul and the belly. However divided a room or community or nation may be, there is solace in shared food, and most especially in pie or tarts. Perhaps it is the concrete-ness…

Although I love sharing and receiving gifts for special occasions, my favorite gifts are the ones shared for no reason at all. Don't you love receiving random gifts from others? Maybe a stranger in line before you purchases your coffee or…

The use of technology in childhood is one of the hottest topics for modern parents, and it seems where ever you land on the issue, it can be a potential point of shame and judgement, one where each family must establish strong justification…

I gave Mark a wallet for father's day in June with the last line from Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Ulysses, "to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." I might have inscribed the last seven lines, if it would have fit, and so I inscribed…